Whocrazieryouorme: Whos Making Money

Is HBO’s ‘The Pacific’ An Underrated Masterpiece?

After the brilliant “Band of Brothers,” I was excited about this HBO mini-series and then Tom Hanks had to get goddamned stupid and partisan and anti-American and ruin the whole thing. I knew he was a lib but that didn’t matter. I loved Tom Hanks and then he had to go and declare that our WWII veterans were waging a war of “terror and racism.”

It would be great to be able to go back to enjoying his work, but now — I just can’t get over this.

I’ve never seen “The Pacific.” I do know Hanks probably hurt the ratings and that the reviews weren’t very good. I also know that Hanks so toxified the atmosphere around the release that the thought of watching it still makes me ill.

35mm Projection Could Be gone by 2015

This is actually one way in which Hollywood can save a ton of money, which of course is what they’re desperate to do in order to avoid the hard work of making better movies that will make more money.

People often confuse me as some kind of purist when that’s really not true. I could care less if the projection is digital or 35MM. I love story. Tell a good story and how you project it won’t make a bit of difference.

Woody Woodpecker Movie in Development

Gee, I hope he learns stop wounding Gaia’s trees with all that awful woodpecking.

Innovations of Zelda Franchise

Back in the mid-80’s when Nintendo first came out it was the 1986 release of “The Legend of Zelda” that became my crack-cocaine. I became so addicted that once I finally won the game I gave up video games forever.

11 Great Films You’ve Never Heard Of

“Purgatory,” a shockingly Christian Western (in a good way), is a great choice, as is “Citizen X,” a superb HBO film based on the true story of the hunt for a brutal child predator in the Soviet Union before, during, and after the fall of the Wall.

I’ve seen three others: “Shattered,” “Split Second,” and “City of God.” Meh. Certainly worth a look.

Can’t comment on the others.

—–

Last Night’s Screening

Carlito’s Way (1993) — It’s been years and years since I’ve seen Brian DePalma’s near-great, urban gangster tale of a former heroin kingpin (Al Pacino as Carlito) attempting to go straight. I had remembered none of it and enjoyed every minute. There are two amazing set-pieces and two things that just didn’t work for me. One of the set-pieces takes place in the back room of a barber shop where a very tense drug deal goes bad and the other during the climax at Grand Central Station where our desperate protagonist makes every move he’s learned over his long, sordid life to dodge five mob assassins driven by a blood feud. These sequences represent DePalma at his best where every camera move and cut serves the moment in a way most directors can only dream of.

What bothered me, though, was the silly notion that we’re supposed to believe that Carlito, a man nudging fifty, feels completely out of place returning to his old neighborhood after a five-year prison stint. When you’re that age (and I’m close enough to it), five years just isn’t that long. If he had been locked up for ten or fifteen years it would make more sense. Nothing involving the theme of feeling out of step with the time and place he used to call home rang true.

No one’s ever accused me of being PC, but I was also troubled by the casting of Penelope Ann Miller as Carlito’s love interest. In 1993, Hollywood was still doing something they would never consider today, casting the Italian Pacino as a Puerto Rican. But for whatever reason, casting this very blonde, ivory-skinned woman as our protagonist’s savior and angel felt wrong and like an overt choice meant to symbolize hope, salvation, and redemption through her Caucasian looks. As someone who’s in an interracial marriage, it’s certainly not that, and normally I don’t even notice such things.

But at some point during the story I asked myself, “Why couldn’t this girl be Puerto Rican?” Rachel Ticotin sure looks like an angel to me and she would’ve only been 34 when “Carlito” was shot. Oh, and she’s one of the most underused and under-appreciated actresses of our time.

As Carlito’s best friend and attorney, it’s Sean Penn who really steals the movie. Why the Good Lord would give a jerk like that so much talent is beyond me. Viggo Mortensen also kills in his only scene.

Pacino’s performance is typical post-Oscar Pacino — a flamboyant scenery-chewer with an over-the top accent. But reunited with his “Scarface” director, that performance is pretty perfect.

—–

SCOTTD’S EPIC LINK-TACULAR

ANCHOR BAY ACQUIRES KURT RUSSELL FOOTBALL FILM ‘TOUCHBACK‘

FELICITY JONES TO PLAY FEMALE LEAD IN WARREN BEATTY’S HOWARD HUGHES BIOPIC

5 POSSIBLE REASONS WHY SONY IS BEING QUIET ABOUT ‘THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN‘

5 MOVIE GADGETS THE GOOGLE X LAB SHOULD WORK ON

8 GREAT HUMAN-MONSTER ROMANCES

JOHN, THIS IS FOR YOU: THE TITLE DESIGN OF MAURICE BINDER

VINTAGE TV ESSAY: “NEWSRADIO AND THE COMEDIC ART”

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF AKIRA KUROSAWA’S ‘YOJIMBO‘

TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROES: ALAN MOORE’S LOST WORK

25 FACTS ABOUT DISNEY’S ‘BEAUTY AND THE BEAST‘

WHY PIXAR SHOULD MAKE AN ANIMATED STEVE JOBS BIOPIC

10 GREAT PRISON BREAKS FROM SCI-FI AND FANTASY

8 PROMISED MOVIES THAT STILL HAVEN’T BEEN MADE

FYI

‘CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3′ SETS FIVE-DAY SALES RECORD

NEW BOX OFFICE RECORD FOR ‘BREAKING DAWN’?

JOHN WILLIAMS WILL SCORE STEVEN SPIELBERG’S ‘LINCOLN’

DID ‘COMMUNITY’ GET TOO CLEVER FOR ITS OWN GOOD?

THREE FILMS VIE FOR FAMILY AUDIENCE NEXT WEEK

11 GREAT FILMS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

‘ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT’ TEAM FIRED UP FOR MOVIE

‘INDIANA JONES’ DOC ‘RAIDING THE LOST ARK’ PUTS FIRST 17 MINUTES ONLINE

MICHAEL JACKSON BIOPIC CIRCULATING HOLLYWOOD

EIGHT CHARACTERS POSTERS FROM ‘THE AVENGERS’

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CLASSIC PICK FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18

TCM:

10:00 PM EST: Man Called Peter, A (1955) – A Scottish boy follows his faith to a bright career preaching in Washington, DC. Dir: Henry Koster Cast: Richard Todd, Jean Peters, Marjorie Rambeau. C-119 mins

Imperfect but still interesting and respectful biopic about Peter Marshall, a man “called by God” to become a minister; a calling that eventually earns him national recognition. Well worth your time, though, especially for a superb scene where Jean Peters speaks to a group of young woman about what feminism and being a woman really means. You wouldn’t hear that message in our popular culture today.

It starts here at right about the 2:00 mark.

--Please send tips/suggestions/requests/complaints to jnolte@breitbart.com

The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Click on the headlines for more.

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INTERNATIONAL

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CNN: 11/11/11: 'Ones' in a lifetime

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New York Times: Government Policies Cool China’s Real Estate Boom

China’s nationwide real estate boom became so manic last year that many would-be buyers camped in tents on the sidewalks of this tropical island city to be at the front of the line when condominiums went on sale — even though the condos had not yet been built.

BUSINESS

For the latest business news:http: www.CNNMoney.com

CNN Money: Record 51% of moms get maternity leave

For the first time ever, a majority of working women received paid maternity leave, according to a new study. But the U.S. still has a long way to go to catch up to the rest of the industrialized world.

CNN Money: Europe's reluctant savior

The European Central Bank is under pressure to step up its bond-buying program as borrowing costs for Italy rise to dangerously high levels.

Wall Street Journal: Facebook Retreats on Privacy

Facebook Inc. is close to a settlement with the U.S. government over charges that it misled users about its use of their personal information, the latest sign of widening public concern over privacy in the digital age.

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